Job site material delivery: what a supplier should show

The contractor's questions before calling

Before picking up the phone, a contractor usually asks the same questions:

• Can I pick up my order, or is it delivery only?
• What time does the counter open, and until what time can I order for next-day delivery?
• Do you deliver to my job site, or only to a commercial address?
• What is the lead time for an in-stock product, and for a product that has to be ordered?
• Is there a minimum order or a delivery fee?
• Can I open a commercial account, and how?
• What happens if I return material?
• Who answers when I call, and at what number?

These eight answers make up a service sheet. It is quick to write and saves a lot of calls that are only for information.

Counter only, delivery only, or both

SubmitX Network asks a supplier whether it serves at the counter only, by delivery only or both. The question is simple, but each answer leads to others:

Put the exception next to the product concerned, not in a general terms paragraph that nobody reads.

Lead times, opening hours and early-morning pickup

The cut-off time

Show the time before which an order is delivered the same day or the next day. A clear cut-off time beats "fast delivery": the contractor plans their crew around it.

Counter hours

Quebec's Act respecting hours and days of admission to commercial establishments applies to establishments where products are offered for retail sale to the public. A Government of Québec pilot project, in effect since March 11, 2026 for one year, lets non-food businesses, hardware stores included, open to the public from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Sunday, statutory holidays excluded, on a voluntary basis.

Job site delivery: what to specify

Delivering to a commercial address and delivering to a job site are not the same thing: access is sometimes limited, the ground is uneven and someone isn't always there to receive. Here is what is best settled before the truck leaves:

1. The exact job site address and the person receiving, with their cell number.
2. The delivery window (morning, afternoon) and what happens if nobody is there.
3. The type of truck (flatbed, boom truck, closed box) and the space needed to manoeuvre.
4. Unloading: who unloads, with what equipment, and where the material is set down.
5. Protecting the material from weather and theft if it is delivered the day before.
6. Delivery fees (flat rate, distance or weight), the minimum order and the cost of a second trip.
7. Checking on receipt: count, note any damage and write it on the delivery slip.

That last point can matter legally. The Civil Code of Québec provides that a buyer who finds that property has a defect must give written notice to the seller within a reasonable time after discovering it (art. 1739), and that the buyer takes delivery of the property and pays the price at the time and place of delivery (art. 1734). Check with a lawyer for your terms of sale.

Invoice, delivery slip and returns: the clear minimum

A contractor registered for sales taxes claims input tax credits on their purchases. Revenu Québec specifies the information that must appear on supporting documents, depending on the value of the sale, taxes included:

• In all cases: the supplier's name or trade name, the invoice date and the total amount.
• From $100: the supplier's GST and QST registration numbers.
• From $500: in addition, the name of the buyer or their agent, and the payment terms.

The buyer can ask their supplier for this information in writing, and the supplier must reply. Other items (tax amount, description of the property) are also required depending on the case: see Revenu Québec's Preparing invoices page, and our article on GST and QST in construction.

Returns

When a client returns property and you grant them a refund or a credit, Revenu Québec states that a credit note must be given to them. It includes, among other things, the words credit note, your name and your GST and QST registration numbers, the client's name, the date and the amount of the tax adjustment. If you refund only a percentage of the price to cover restocking fees, you refund only that same percentage of the taxes collected.

Write your return policy before a case comes up: non-returnable products (custom-cut, special orders), accepted time frame, product condition, restocking fees.

Complete invoices, with precise sales units, also help contractors who compare their suppliers in the SubmitX software's Supplier Hub: they do it from their own records, files or manual entry, and SubmitX does not extract any prices from merchant websites.

Where SubmitX Network fits in

The SubmitX Network "supplier" profile covers materials and hardware, and the question of counter, delivery or both is part of it. Contractors search it by region, trade and radius, without a SubmitX software account.

For now, the network is closed and the waitlist is active: none of the 17 administrative regions is open, and a region opens when a first search can return results there. Prepare the information in this article now (territory, hours, minimum, terms) so your listing is ready at opening. Sign-up is free for now, and SubmitX sells neither contact details nor client leads. Join the suppliers waitlist.